As we stepped out of the house today, we were met with a strong smell of burning, assuming it was a busy gardener burning off their leaves, we thought nothing more of it and went on our way. That was until we reached the top of Madeira Road and were met by several fire engines, police and an ambulance.
Within seconds, we realised that St Wilfred’s Church was engulfed by a huge fire – at that point the roof had almost gone and all that could be seen from where we were, was burning beams and lots of smoke.
Given the panic going on it was not clear how the fire started or how long it had been raging.
Although we’re not members of the church, to see it destroyed in this way was extremely sad and can imagine a real tragedy for many people.
The ambulance sped off with sirens blaring, so we can only assume that someone must’ve been injured or suffering with smoke inhalation. We do hope that the injuries are not serious.
This will be a massive blow for the Catholic community who have been sharing their priest with Shanklin and Niton for sometime.
